As of: February 22, 2024, 4:40 p.m
By: Ulrike Hagen
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The Bundestag rejects the delivery of Taurus missiles.
Defense Minister Pistorius promises further aid to Ukraine, but avoids specific details.
Berlin - After the Bundestag rejected the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles with a clear majority, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) assured Ukraine of further military support in the Bundestag on Thursday (February 22).
However, in a debate on the Ukraine war, he left it open whether the Taurus missiles, which the CDU has long been demanding, would be part of this support.
For this, and also for the inadequate rearmament of the Bundeswehr, he was attacked by the opposition.
Defense Minister Borius Pistorius (SPD) has promised further aid to Ukraine.
However, it is unclear to what extent this should be done.
© Marcus Brandt/dpa/archive image
Military aid for Ukraine: Bundestag votes against “Taurus” delivery
The Greens want to deliver, as do the CDU and FDP.
But the SPD under Chancellor Olaf Scholz stood in the way until the end.
At the beginning of February, Pistorius strictly rejected the demands of the opposition and coalition partners and appeared annoyed.
The SPD politician said he was “tired” of the ongoing debate during the budget discussions in the Bundestag.
He also avoided talking about the Taurus cruise missiles in today's Bundestag debate.
The Bundestag rejected the delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine after a corresponding request from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group did not receive a majority.
Only 182 MPs voted for the motion, while 480 were against and five abstained.
The traffic light submitted its own motion to the Bundestag to further support the government in Kiev.
The delivery of long-range weapons is also mentioned, but the word “Taurus” does not appear.
Pistorius avoids mentioning Taurus in Bundestag debate
When asked by CDU MP Jürgen Hardt whether Taurus was to be understood as the “additionally required long-range weapon systems” called for in a coalition proposal, the SPD politician replied: “I can’t answer that.
I have read the application.
The applicants will have thought about their part.
I am not a member of the parliamentary group.” Unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for example, Pistorius is a member of the government, but not the Bundestag.
Pistorius leaves open how to deal with Taurus missiles: Opposition demands explanation - also from Scholz
The deputy leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Johann Wadephul, asked Scholz to explain his position: “The Chancellor has an obligation to explain at some point why he rejects Taurus so categorically.
He owes it to the public, to Parliament and to Ukraine.”
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Parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz had previously called on the MPs of the traffic light coalition to support the CDU/CSU proposal: “Ukraine continues to not receive the full amount of material it urgently needs to effectively repel the Russian war of aggression,” he explained.
“The seriousness of the situation was not recognized”: CDU parliamentary group criticizes Pistorius for defense policy
Defense Minister Pistorius was also criticized on Wednesday for promising new “Skyranger” anti-aircraft gun tanks as a successor to the Gepard weapon system, which was decommissioned years ago, with a view to the Ukraine war.
“The fact that it took two years until the procurement decision was made to close one of the most glaring capability gaps to protect troops from attacks from the air such as drones, even after the turning point was declared, shows once again that this federal government still does not recognize the seriousness of the situation has," said the defense policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Florian Hahn, to the
dpa
.
“How we want to deter people and achieve war capability with the homeopathic number decided today remains a secret of the federal government,” said the CDU politician.